Eek! half way through buying a used VW Passat 2.0TDI - what do I do????

peter12345678910

I would forget about the 500, this is big news. It is on the news constantly, even other German brands are losing shares. It is not about software but hardware, it lacks precision German engineering, you are paying more for quality, VW are con artists who are cheating people and polluting the atmosphere.

Their car advert with them 2 elderly woman suggests quality balanced with performance, more lies balanced with profits.

Though u may still like the car, but I cannot see where the pride of ownership comes into it?

WellKnownSid

peter12345678910 wrote: »

It is not about software but hardware, it lacks precision German engineering, you are paying more for quality, VW are con artists who are cheating people and polluting the atmosphere.

It's not about hardware or software. The German government spokesman last night talking about the criminal case they'll be launching was vitriolic. It's the attitude, lack of transparency, contempt for the environment.

Hintza

Strider590 wrote: »

Sure the tax might go up

VED will never go up on cars already sold. If the powers that be decide yhey have been diddled they will extract the lost revenue from the manufacturer by way of fines.

bowlhead99

peter12345678910 wrote: »

I would forget about the 500, this is big news. It is on the news constantly, even other German brands are losing shares. It is not about software but hardware, it lacks precision German engineering, you are paying more for quality, VW are con artists who are cheating people and polluting the atmosphere.

So VW are able to make a car that 'performs to the test' and can run in a slightly lower-polluting mode for emissions test purposes - but does not run in that mode at all times because for real-world use, a focus on running with lower pollutants is inevitably going to hamper performance and clog the filters more quickly, potentially reduce mpg and engine life, none of which are desirable for an owner.

Actually to me that sounds like the perfectly precision German engineering we all want. Get me a car that drives how I like it on a test drive, but find a solution to government demands for the level of nitrogen oxides etc.

I read a tabloid article calling them "fiendishly clever". Wasn't supposed to be a compliment but those clever, clever Germans have delivered a car that the buyers want. So, if you were paying a premium for German engineering know-how, they've demonstrated that they have that, in their software.

To the OP: you've paid a deposit for a 3.5-year old car that you like. Depending on mileage and spec, that deposit represents 5-10% of your car budget. You presumably didn't choose the car based on its stated level of NOx or particulates, as these don't appear in the brochure anyway (just the fact that it meets Euro V). So it is just a consideration of whether you want to lose £500 today by walking away from the deal, or lose a portion of the £500 at resale time several years down the line if the bottom falls out of the market for seven-year-old Passats by 2019 or whenever your next replace your car.

VW will have to do something to counter the negative PR. That is likely to include discounts and sweeteners to get people into its current brand new models (which allegedly aren't fitted with the cheat software, though perhaps they just haven't been found to have the cheat software). So, while September is often a good month to do a car deal, because people will be pushed to buy one with a new '65 plate and trade in their old '12s and '62s which you want to buy... you might find that dealer incentives on new cars in October and November will also cause people to turn in their old 2012 cars giving you plenty of choice. I can't imagine this effect has fully hit the price of those 2012 cars yet.

So your £500 won't be a total write-off if you walk away from the deal and cannily shop around for a better deal than the one you'd lined up. As it is, you'd already made a slightly poor deal by agreeing and locking-in to a price in September for a (say) 40-month-old car which you will only pay for and pick up in October as a 41 month old car, losing a month of depreciation while it sits on their forecourt...

If you do end up with a VW, in practice they are either going to give you a free software change under a recall programme (which you won't have to accept), or they won't recall because the issue doesn't affect the Euro V test pass/fail (or it does but they agree with the govt that they can just pay a fine instead of fixing every individual car).

lisa110rry

I hope you won't feel I'm side-tracking this thread, but rather just throwing another question on the same subject into the mix...

My husband will take delivery of his new Motability Tiguan 2l diesel car on Wednesday. If this scandal is as big a thing as some of you suggest it will be and if it impacts main dealers so that there is a very long way to go to a dealership for servicing or, worst case, VW collapses in terms of dealerships in the UK, will he have to give the car back? If so, I wonder whether the additional payment made over and above Disability Living Allowance will be repaid? (It's a lot more than £500.) Motability cars have to be maintained at a main dealer...

dannyrst

lisa110rry wrote: »

I hope you won't feel I'm side-tracking this thread, but rather just throwing another question on the same subject into the mix...

My husband will take delivery of his new Motability Tiguan 2l diesel car on Wednesday. If this scandal is as big a thing as some of you suggest it will be and if it impacts main dealers so that there is a very long way to go to a dealership for servicing or, worst case, VW collapses in terms of dealerships in the UK, will he have to give the car back? If so, I wonder whether the additional payment made over and above Disability Living Allowance will be repaid? (It's a lot more than £500.) Motability cars have to be maintained at a main dealer...

VW will not collapse, do not worry.

The VW Group would sell off Skoda or one of their premium brands well before they got into any major financial trouble with VW.

lisa110rry

Thanks Danny, of course that makes sense. One of relatively few red letter days for him is new car day, and I'd hate to see it mucked up!

dannyrst

lisa110rry wrote: »

Thanks Danny, of course that makes sense. One of relatively few red letter days for him is new car day, and I'd hate to see it mucked up!

Just pay attention to any re-calls in the future, make sure you are fully aware of what is being done and what the implications are. When picking the car up, I'd possibly check whether any work has been done on the car already to amend the emissions. If so, get anything documented in writing.

lisa110rry

Good point Danny, I will tell him. I'm also searching about on the internet to see if the engine in question is the one in that car as there has been no mention (so far) of the Tiguan being affected.

Edit: Apparently it is...

WellKnownSid

German transport ministry has advised all 1.6 and 2.0 diesels under suspicion, and that VW "has admitted" to them that they cheated the tests in Europe too.

I think the break up of VW is entirely possible - they got too big, too clever. They won't disappear.

They don't know how many of the 1.6 / 2l cars are affected - but they will be randomly checking cars from ALL manufacturers. Statement to the effect that the investigations won't be limited to VW.